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This Week at Interior April 18, 2014

April 18, 2014

National Park Week (April 19 - April 27) starts with free admission this weekend to all 401 of America's National Parks; a gathering of all the living Directors of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Secretary Jewell travels to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to give the commencement address at the Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI); the Integrated Wildland Fire Information Reporting system (IRWIN) is among the tools that will be used to fight wildfires this year; and the Interior Museum's "Posterity" exhibit looks back at the some vintage promotional art from the WPA.

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Transcript

THIS WEEK AT INTERIOR…

THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE IS CELEBRATING NATIONAL PARK WEEK APRIL 19TH THROUGH THE 27TH WITH A FREE ADMISSION WEEKEND, AND SPECIAL EVENTS ALL OVER THE NATION. THE THEME FOR THIS YEAR’S NATIONAL PARK WEEK IS *GO WILD*.. FOR HISTORY, NATURE, CULTURE, WILDLIFE AND FUN IN THE NATION’S 401 NATIONAL PARKS.. THE FREE ADMISSION WEEKEND IS APRIL 19TH AND 20TH… PARK SERVICE DIRECTOR JONATHAN JARVIS SAYS EVERY PARK OFFERS A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE, AND HE INVITES EVERYONE TO JOIN THE CELEBRATION AND GET TO KNOW A PARK. SECRETARY JEWELL WILL BE KICKING OFF NATIONAL PARK WEEK WITH A VISIT TO CRATER LAKE NATIONAL PARK IN OREGON. YOU CAN GET ALL THE DETAILS ON NATIONAL PARK WEEK AT NPS.GOV.

A UNIQUE GATHERING AT THE U-S FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE’S NATIONAL CONSERVATION TRAINING CENTER IN SHEPHERDSTOWN WEST VIRGINIA… ALL THE LIVING FORMER FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE DIRECTORS JOINED CURRENT DIRECTOR DAN ASHE AND SECRETARY JEWELL, IN A FORUM WHERE THEY TALKED ABOUT KEY MOMENTS IN THEIR CAREERS… INCLUDING THE LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT THE PRESSING CONSERVATION ISSUES OF THEIR TIME.

THEY ARE REMARKABLE PEOPLE. WHY SHOULD I BE SURPRISED? THEY WERE DIRECTORS ONCE UPON A TIME,

AND I AM SO HONORED TO BE IN THEIR COMPANY BECAUSE THEY REVEAL A COMMITMENT AND IDEALISM THAT I FIND ENCHANTING AND COMFORTING AND REASSURING.

COMING HERE IS ALWAYS LIKE COMING HOME.

TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR FROM LYNN GREENWALT, GET THAT PERSPECTIVE, TO HAVE ALL THE DIRECTORS TOGETHER, IT’S JUST AN EXCEPTIONAL OPPORTUNITY.

I WANT TO THANK OUR COLLEAGUES UP HERE FOR RUNNING THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE THOUGH ALL KINDS OF POLITICAL CIRCUMSTANCES, ALL KINDS OF ADMINISTRATIONS, ALL KINDS OF CHALLENGES.

IT’S THE SECOND TIME ALL THE FORMER DIRECTORS HAVE GATHERED, THE LAST TIME WAS 1998.

SECRETARY JEWELL TRAVELED TO NEW MEXICO THIS WEEK, WHERE SHE ADDRESSED THE GRADUATING CLASS OF THE SOUTHWESTERN INDIAN POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE OR *SIPI*… THAT’S A NATIONAL INDIAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE LOCATED IN ALBUQUERQUE. THE SECRETARY TOLD THE CLASS OF 2014 THAT NONE OF US COMPLETES ANY OF OUR JOURNEYS ALONE, AND ASKED THE NEW GRADUATES TO STAND AND THANK THEIR FAMILY, FRIENDS, AND COMMUNITY WHO HELPED THEM REACH GRADUATION… SHE ALSO ENCOURAGED GRADUATES TO BRING THEIR WHOLE SELVES WITH THEM TO THEIR NEXT CHAPTERS IN LIFE… TO BE PROUD OF THEIR VALUES, THEIR CULTURE, AND WHO THEY ARE. SIPI WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1971 AND PROVIDES CAREER TECHNICAL TRAINING AND TRANSFER DEGREE PROGRAMS TO STUDENTS FROM THE NATION’S 566 FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED TRIBES.

AS FEDERAL AGENCIES GET READY TO FIGHT ANOTHER FIRE SEASON IN 2014, SOME INSIGHT THIS WEEK INTO THE SCIENCE BEHIND THOSE EFFORTS. ONE OF THE TOOLS IS CALLED *IRWIN*, OR INTEGRATED WILD-LAND FIRE INFORMATION REPORTING… THE OFFICE OF WILDLAND FIRE SAYS IRWIN IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE *END TO END* FIRE REPORTING CAPABILITY, WHILE REDUCING REDUNDANT DATA ENTRY AND IMPROVING THE CONSISTENCY, ACCURACY, AND AVAILABILITY OF OPERATIONAL DATA FOR TEAMS FIGHTING FIRE OUTBREAKS. IRWIN IS SEEN AS NOT ONLY MORE COST EFFICIENT BECAUSE OF THE TIME IT SAVES DISPATCHERS, BUT ACTUALLY IMPROVED DISPATCHER PERFORMANCE BY STREAMLINING

INFORMATION INPUT AND IMPROVING THE ACCURACY OF DATA DURING THE INITIAL, MOST HECTIC TIME OF A FIRE EMERGENCY.

AND IT’S A CLASSIC TAKE ON THE NATION’S PARKS, COURTESY OF SOME VINTAGE POSTERS FROM THE WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION, BETTER KNOWN AS THE WPA...THE INTERIOR MUSEUM IS FEATURING "POSTERITY", A NEW EXHIBITION OF SILK SCREENED POSTERS CREATED TO PROMOTE THE NATION’S PARK SYSTEM… 50 POSTERS--INCLUDING 6 CREATED BETWEEN 1938 AND 1941--DEPICT 36 NATIONAL PARKS, THE ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE AND THE INTERIOR MUSEUM ITSELF. FIND OUT MORE AT DOI.GOV/INTERIORMUSEUM